Protect
by Vixen Argentum
Summary: [OneShot] SessRin Sesshomaru saved her from death years ago, but he never imagined she could return the favor. Cute and sweet with a taste of adventure. Fic uses some material from the manga not in the anime, it is well explained. Read and Review!


A/N- This is just a cute little oneshot that came to me when I was at work. I just recently renewed my love of the Sess/Rin story, so this was born out of remembering Sess's attatchment to Rin especially in ep. 162. Warning. Very fluffy for me as an author. I don't do fluff. But here it is.

Synopsis- Naraku has the completed Shikon no Tama. Who is there to stop him? gasps I wrote something not rated "M"!

Disclaimer- I do not in any way profit from this. I work 40 hrs a week in an f'ing biochemistry lab for crying out loud.

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It was the end. Nobody was pretending otherwise. No more shards to collect, no more battles to fight, no more reasons to hold anything back. 

The jewel pulsated, sending its tainted black aura outward, dangling from the end of its hated necklace. Naraku smiled at the tug of its weight on his fingertip. He twirled it around artfully, releasing it into the air and catching it squarely in the palm of his hand.

Inuyasha and his followers would be arriving any minute to stake their own claim on this beautiful gem. Naraku knew that if he fought one on one, the strength of the jewel would allow him to defeat any enemy. Now was the time to destroy his most formidable threat.

The demon dog lord had not been caught unaware. With his keen nose to the breeze, he sensed the coming of his enemy and narrowed his eyes in the anticipation of a fight. He rested a gracile hand on the hilt of his no longer useless sword; it was the fang that could resurrect the dead and send the judged to hell all on the whim of the owner. It hummed as he drew it from its wooden sheath, eager to serve.

"Half human ape, are you ready to die?" He shouted behind his shoulder.

Naraku floated out from behind the trees he had been hiding behind for so long, watching his enemy. Encased in the bubble, he descended from the air to land at his feet.

"No, not at all, my old friend. But are you?"

Sesshomaru gripped the tenseiga, twitching his fingers in anticipation. The sprays of tentacles shot out of Naraku's orb, which he cut down one by one. Slashing, ripping, hacking, he made his way to the centerpoint of his foe. The spider demon smirked. Did Sesshomaru really think that killing him would be this easy? Obviously so. Naraku had concealed the jewel deep within his own body, where his barrier could contain the aura of its presence. This was going to be like taking candy from a baby.

The tenseiga thrust it's ethereal point through the furthest tip of the protective sphere. Behind it came the five pointed claws of the Lord of the West himself, reaching for a stab at his neck. His eyes flashed vengeance like a reflection in bile. Just a little bit further, my pretty pet.

Naraku squeezed the jewel as hard as he could, sending new waves of power to reinforce the breech. He smiled as those acid colored eyes of his foe went wide with surprise as he realized what had been hidden away all this time. The repulsive power tore sword from owner, bucking the dog flat onto the ground. The jagged edge of a sharp rock was there to catch his fall, skewering him upon the peak. The fang of the netherworld followed its owner. It lanced across his chest and shoulder as it soared like a javelin to stab the flesh of the earth.

Now, there was little that the youkai could do to destroy his plans. The bubble evaporated, allowing two of the tentacles most central of his body to plunge into Sesshomaru's open wound. The lord gritted his teeth, challenging Naraku to absorb his essence, heart and soul. He always was such a brave one. He never admitted total defeat even at the end.

"You might feel a little tired, as I eat your soul and gain your powers," Naraku cautioned sarcastically. Sesshomaru struggled, but the vice of the tentacles and the rock allowed him only the freedom to squirm. Scanning the horizon, he searched for his father's sword, but it was nowhere to be found.

"Burn in hell, hanyou," Sesshomaru spat.

Now that Naraku had removed himself from the barrier, his presence was so easy to detect. All he had to do was to hold out until the others came, not to save him, but to remove the jewel from his grasp. Even if he could not defeat this monster, perhaps his brother and his followers could. He didn't like that idea in the least, but it was better than submitting the earth to a reign of evil. Perhaps Kagome could take care of his Rin and Jaken would then be free to return to his people, now that his debt was fully paid. As smoothly as the world ran with him in it, its cogs were just as unhindered with out him.

Naraku pulled the jewel out to rest on a finger once more. He swung it in front of Sesshomaru's nose, taunting him as he thrust more and more of his spider limbs into him. Then he saw something that made him have to laugh.

"No! Get away from him, you nasty spider," shouted a shrill voice.

To his amusement, a little girl with a dirty face had emerged from the tall grass to stand beside Sesshomaru. She grasped the tenseiga in her tiny hands, the sword's weight playing with her balance. Unsheathed, it was nearly as long as she was tall. Teardrops welled in Naraku's eyes, as he couldn't hold his laughter captive any longer. He cackled eerily, but resisted the urge to slap his thigh. This only set the resolute expression deeper into her face.

"Rin. Run away." Sesshomaru reached a hand up towards the girl who was just out of reach. She always had been that way.

"No!" She waved it in the air, marveling at the blue streaks that trailed behind the blade.

"Rin, that sword is a youkai sword, forged from the fang of my father. A human, even one like you would be destroyed by its power rather than wield it," his voice leaked concern. Oh well, it was the end.

Rin bit her lip. "I don't care!"

"Rin," he barked. "Do not make me watch you die."

She paused, but did not drop the blade. "But I don't want you to see you die, either"

"Then leave this place, and me behind with it."

Naraku laced his fingers together, stretching his arms out ahead of him. He had never known the dog lord to be so amusing.

"If it's a fight, she wants, then a fight she will get. I'm sure she has learned some excellent techniques under your care, my fair Lord Sesshomaru," Naraku purred. Sesshomaru's eyes began to glow red, but the crimson tide was silenced with the addition of another root of evil.

Just then, his enemy removed every appendage from Sesshomaru's body. The youkai lord attempted to get up, but was far too exhausted. Naraku had drained more than half of the power from him and pumped poisonous miasma into his veins.

Please Rin. Don't.

He saw now the tears that streamed down her face. She had been resurrected from the demons of the dead at his hands. She had followed him around for years, seeing the wonder in the world he did not. She had cared for him when he was injured. Now he understood fully. She had fallen in love.

Rin tried as hard as she could to steady her shaking body. Moving between her lord and Naraku, she held the fang parallel to the ground, hoisting it to rest just below her cheek. She had seen Sesshomaru do this millions of times, vanquishing foes while she peeped out between the bristles of Ah-Un's mane. The words came to her, from where she did not know. Fire filled her body as the spirit of another came to rest upon her. In the mock of a battle a year in the past, she recited them in her own pure child's voice.

"I, Rin have something to protect."

A lone tear fell upon the scabbard, sizzling as the saline struck the metal.

Don't say it Rin. It will blow you apart. I have only recently mastered its power.

"Meido Zangetsuha!" She screamed. Blinding blue light flashed around her, decorated with the sound of a sonic boom. Smoke billowed into a giant cloud that pulled all of the surroundings into its nothingness.

And then there was silence.

Sesshomaru used a sudden burst of strength to pull the craggy point of rock from his back. Straining to see into the fog, he yearned to see her image. If she had survived that in any way…

Out of the mist, he could see the faint outline of an inu youkai with a curly tail. It flashed its red eyes at Sesshomaru before leaping at a sword, disappearing into the infinitesimal tip. Father. Did my father rise from the underworld to drag Naraku into hell?

Before long the combination of smoke and miasma dissipated, leaving a bullet shaped divot of scorched earth. He prepared for the worst. He searched the horizon, feeling the presence of others. He really didn't care anymore who would be there to watch him die. Upon a knoll, the band of Inuyasha stared at the scene with wide eyes.

"Look!" The miko cried as she pointed into the distance. In the center of the singed earth, a terrified little girl held herself up upon a sword thrust into the ground. In her other hand, she grasped the necklace of a large round jewel.

Upon meeting Sesshomaru's eyes, she tottered over to him, dragging the heavy sword behind her on the ground.

"Don't you ever do that again."

"Yes, my lord."

Sesshomaru accepted the tenseiga from her hands, the power of the sword healing his wounds instantly. He stood up, sheathing the blade in his obi.

"I'm tired." The child yawned, her eyelids drooping.

"Me too," admitted the dog lord softly. He scooped her up into his one arm, cradling the girl against his chest. Within seconds, she was fast asleep. Her light snores reminded him of a kitten's purring.

"Jaken!" he cried. The little imp fumbled forward only to fall at his feet.

"Yes, my lord?"

"We will go now."

Sesshomaru marched with his confident stride up to the outcropping where his brother and his friends were standing. Inuyasha's face looked as if he had eaten an entire citrus cart. Leave it to his brother to be ungrateful that Naraku was dead, just because he wasn't the one who killed him. He tossed the jewel at the miko, who caught it in her hands.

"Do as you like," he said. Turning abruptly, he began to walk toward his homeland of the west. Perhaps he should see if anything had gone awry in his centuries of absence.

"I keep asking you guys," he heard Inuyasha whine. "Who the hell is that human girl?"

Kagome chuckled as she rubbed his ears. "Does it really matter? After all, she made everything so easy on us."

"But Sesshomaru? I mean he- well I always thought he- but why does he-?" Inuyasha struggled to form the words.

Kagome kissed him lightly on the cheek. "Oh, so now a human isn't good enough for you or your brother?"

"Well, I just never thought he had it in him."

He encircled Kagome in one of his arms, pulling his love closer. Inuyasha stared in amazement at his brother's back. The floppy form of the girl child bobbed up and down with every step that the dog lord took.

Sesshomaru closed his eyes and rested his chin in her hair. He breathed in her scent. It was tinged in the murk of battle, but still just as comforting all the same. Leaning her head back, he kissed her gently on the forehead. At the touch of his lips, Rin grasped at his fluffy pelt in her sleep. The youkai smiled. He didn't care.

It was the end.


End file.
